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ALPHA – Just over a year ago, one stumbling block prevented the Fulton softball squad from capturing its second IHSA regional championship.
Fresh from winning their second regional title plaque and their first since 2018, the Steamers found themselves face to face once again with Biggsville West Central, the team that denied their regional title bid last spring.
Unfortunately for Fulton, the results in Thursday’s Class 1A AlWood Sectional semifinal proved to be very much the same. West Central struck for three first-inning runs and never looked back in a 7-0 victory over the Steamers.
But while Thursday’s outcome was far from the desired one, third-year Fulton coach Derek Germann was quick to praise his second-seeded, 18-13 team for a season that saw it return to the next level of the postseason after a lengthy absence.
“We can hold our heads high,” said Germann. “I’m super proud of what this team did, the leadership we had with our seniors, and of our young kids stepping up. We’re going to graduate some girls who’ve been with us for three years now, so we’ve got some shoes to fill.
“But we’ve got a good roster returning, and the girls are going to take their commitment into the offseason. We’ve got the kids in our program who will put in the work to help us keep our stride.”
Hoping to avoid a repeat of last season’s outcome – a 10-0, six-inning loss to the Heat in a regional final played on their home diamond – Fulton looked primed to hit the ground running in Thursday’s rematch.
But after Kira Wilson singled to open the game then stole second to get in scoring position with one out, West Central sophomore pitcher Miley Stimpson quickly closed the door on the Steamers’ early scoring threat.
“We didn’t put one up, and we’re better than that,” Germann said, “but that’s a quality team. West Central and [coach] Dylan [Voyles] do a fantastic job of demanding a lot out of their pitchers, and Miley is a very good pitcher for them.”
Indeed, Stimpson maintained the upper hand on the Fulton lineup during her six-inning, eight-strikeout performance. The leadoff single by Wilson was the only hit she allowed in that span, and she permitted only one other base runner when Belle Curley reached on a fourth-inning error.
“I just wanted to spin the ball in there and make sure they weren’t getting good contact,” Stimpson said. “We just had to keep working hard and grit our way through it.”
After Stimpson extinguished the Steamers’ early bid, the Heat did not wait long to strike in the bottom of the first inning when Becca Hinshaw rapped a leadoff single, then Addie Seitz doubled to put runners on second and third.
Seitz’s two-bagger came after she worked Fulton pitcher Jessa Read to a 3-0 count. She actually admitted to misreading a sign from Voyles in the third-base coach’s box.
“Coach gave me the take sign, but I wasn’t paying attention, and I swung away,” she said with a laugh. “I figured on 3-0 she’d try to throw it down the middle to get a strike, so I knew what was coming.”
Stimpson then helped herself with a single to score Hinshaw with the game’s opening run. After Seitz came in on a Lilly Higgins sacrifice fly, Laurn Winters’ RBI single capped the Heat’s three-run opening inning.
West Central (31-6) continued to add to its lead, plating runs in the second and third innings on RBI singles by Addy Burrell and Rylie Ferguson, respectively. While Stimpson was keeping Fulton in check, the Heat struck for two more runs in the bottom of the fifth to take control of the game.
But before West Central booked its place in Friday’s 4:30 p.m. championship game with fellow No. 1 seed Henry-Senachwine, the Steamers mustered one last push in the top of the seventh.
After Seitz relieved Stimpson, Zoe Kunau and Curley both singled to open Fulton’s last at-bat. With two outs, Kylie Smither walked to load the bases, but Seitz got Averi Bush on a called third strike to preserve the shutout.